vulturesrow
10-26-2005, 09:43 AM
I just finished up reading The Family Trade (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765348217/qid=1130333139/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-8763256-5749466?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) and The Hidden Family (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765313472/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/103-8763256-5749466?v=glance&s=books&n=507846&st=*). These are the first two books in the Merchant Princes series by Charles Stross (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/index.html) . Stross is the author of some excellent sci-fi, including a book called Accelerando (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441012841/qid=1130333257/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-8763256-5749466?v=glance&s=books) which be downloaded free of charge from the link.
The basic premise of the series is a woman from our current time finding out that she is a member of a family of world walkers, who use this ability for economic gain. This is obviously shades of Zelazny (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380809060/qid=1130333408/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-8763256-5749466?v=glance&s=books), but dont worry, the simliarity is superficial other than the obvious one and the fact that a lot of the plot centers around intra-family intrigue.
The series starts off a bit slow and but quickly picked up the pace to a more enjoyable level. Stross is a very good writer with a real knack for giving the story a twist just when you think you have it all figured out. The writing is technically proficient, but I did find the character development of the protagonist to be a bit weak, and indeed I thought some of the other prominent characters were a bit more interesting. This is a minor point though, because Stross is an excellent storyteller and after the initial lethargy in the pacing, I had a hard time time putting these books down. The only other minor criticism I have is that the second book ends rather abruptly after what I though was a very nice buildup to the finale. The end of the book resolves a lot of plot lines, so it will be interesting to see where Stross goes with this story next.
All in all, I think these books are a solid recommendation for any sci-fi/fantasy fan. For you Zelazny fanatics, they arent cheap knockoffs, which was somewhat of a worry of mine before I started reading. 4 out of 5 stars.
The basic premise of the series is a woman from our current time finding out that she is a member of a family of world walkers, who use this ability for economic gain. This is obviously shades of Zelazny (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380809060/qid=1130333408/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-8763256-5749466?v=glance&s=books), but dont worry, the simliarity is superficial other than the obvious one and the fact that a lot of the plot centers around intra-family intrigue.
The series starts off a bit slow and but quickly picked up the pace to a more enjoyable level. Stross is a very good writer with a real knack for giving the story a twist just when you think you have it all figured out. The writing is technically proficient, but I did find the character development of the protagonist to be a bit weak, and indeed I thought some of the other prominent characters were a bit more interesting. This is a minor point though, because Stross is an excellent storyteller and after the initial lethargy in the pacing, I had a hard time time putting these books down. The only other minor criticism I have is that the second book ends rather abruptly after what I though was a very nice buildup to the finale. The end of the book resolves a lot of plot lines, so it will be interesting to see where Stross goes with this story next.
All in all, I think these books are a solid recommendation for any sci-fi/fantasy fan. For you Zelazny fanatics, they arent cheap knockoffs, which was somewhat of a worry of mine before I started reading. 4 out of 5 stars.